This is the one hundred and tenth anniversary of the birthday of
Washington. We are met to celebrate this day. Washington is the
mightiest name on earth--long since mightiest in the cause of
civil liberty; still mightiest in moral reformation. On that
name an eulogy is expected. It can not be. To add brightness to
the sun or glory to the name of Washington is alike impossible.
Let none attempt it. In solemn awe pronounce the name and in its
naked, deathless splendor leave it shining on.
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There's a star in the West that shall never go down
Till the records of Valour decay,
read more
There's a star in the West that shall never go down
Till the records of Valour decay,
We must worship its light though it is not our own,
For liberty burst in its ray.
Shall the name of a Washington ever be heard
By a freeman, and thrill not his breast?
Is there one out of bondage that hails not the word,
As a Bethlehem Star of the West?
The defender of his country--the founder of liberty,
The friend of man,
History and tradition are explored read more
The defender of his country--the founder of liberty,
The friend of man,
History and tradition are explored in vain
For a parallel to his character.
In the annals of modern greatness
He stands alone;
And the noblest names of antiquity
Lose their lustre in his presence.
Born the benefactor of mankind,
He united all the greatness necessary
To an illustrious career.
Nature made him great,
He made himself virtuous.
First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his
countrymen.
First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his
countrymen.
While Washington hath left
His awful memory,
A light for after times.
While Washington hath left
His awful memory,
A light for after times.
Washington--a fixed star in the firmament of great names, shining
without twinkling or obscuration, with clear, beneficent light.
Washington--a fixed star in the firmament of great names, shining
without twinkling or obscuration, with clear, beneficent light.
Were an energetic and judicious system to be proposed with your
signature it would be a circumstance highly honorable read more
Were an energetic and judicious system to be proposed with your
signature it would be a circumstance highly honorable to your
fame . . . and doubly entitle you to the glorious republican
epithet,
The Father of your Country.
A nobleness to try for,
A name to live and die for.
A nobleness to try for,
A name to live and die for.
That name was a power to rally a nation in the hour of
thick-thronging public disasters and calamities; that read more
That name was a power to rally a nation in the hour of
thick-thronging public disasters and calamities; that name shone
amid the storm of war, a beacon light to cheer and guide the
country's friends; it flamed too like a meteor to repel her foes.
Since ancient Time began,
Ever on some great soul God laid an infinite burden--
The weight of read more
Since ancient Time began,
Ever on some great soul God laid an infinite burden--
The weight of all this world, the hopes of man,
Conflict and pain, and fame immortal are his guerdon.
